Introduction to the flavor and taste of coffee treated with red honey in Centro Manor, Costa Rica

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Country: Costa Rica

Producing area: central Valley Central Valley

Manor: Centro Manor

Producer: Blumas Manor processing Plant

Treatment: red honey treatment

Variety: Kaddura, Kaduai

Altitude: 1300 to 1600 m

Harvest time: November to March of the following year

Flavor: candied fruit, honey, red berry notes, peach, sucrose and flowers, rich in sweet and sour

Brumas del zurqui, which won the National Coffee Competition in Costa Rica in 2006, means "Valley full of clouds". Juan Ramon Alvarado, the owner of the estate, has a degree in agriculture from EARTH University, and his wife Natalia, a fourth-generation coffee farmer, set up the Brumas microprocessor in 2004, producing about 750 bags of coffee a year.

He used the BRIX meter to measure sugar to determine the best harvest time for coffee cherries, and according to Juan Ramon's test results, the best flavor point for sweet and sour balance was when the sugar content reached 15.5%. After the coffee is picked, the peel is removed first, and the pulp scraping machine is used to control the degree of peeling the pulp, retaining a certain degree of sticky pulp layer (mucilage). Then, different from the traditional washing treatment, it does not need fermentation to remove the sticky pulp layer, on the contrary, it is allowed to dry directly with this layer of slime, and then the sticky layer and shell (parchment) are removed directly. Juan Ramon calls the coffee produced by this treatment Honey Coffee, which has low acidity, increased complexity and rich sweet flavor. Through a stable, uniform and careful exposure process, the surrounding residual pectin sugars and alcohols increase sweetness and fuller texture through diffusion, and then dry in a net bed.

The water consumption of this treatment is only 5% of that of the traditional washing plant, and it can be made without a huge washing tank and exposure square. The display of flavor depends on the degree of retention of the pulp, challenging the careful skill and courage of the treater. although in the process of treatment, there will be too much drying failure and mildew, uneven exposure or too rapid overfermentation. But this new treatment has become popular in Central America in recent years and has shone brilliantly in all kinds of coffee competitions.